“The Things We’ve Handed Down” is an old song by singer-songwriter Marc Cohn. You probably know him as the “Walking In Memphis” guy, but “The Things We’ve Handed Down” is my favorite song of his. The song tells the story of the various traits handed down from one generation to the next.
Eye color, hair and general looks is what someone typically thinks of regarding traits that are handed down. As the father of an adopted son, I don’t get to look at my son and see my eyes, my hair (or lack of) or face staring back at me. Good fortune for my son, I believe. But as is often the case in life, things have a much deeper meaning, and for me so is the case of the things we’ve handed down.
Will you laugh just like your mother
Will you sigh like your old man
Will somethings skip a generation
Like I heard they often can
Are you a poet or a dancer
A devil or a clown
Or a strange new combination of
The things we’ve handed down
The running joke with me and my son is to determine if a behavior is genetic or environmental. Jokingly, if it is a negative behavior I’ll claim it to be genetic, while positive interactions I take full credit and say it is based on the environment he was raised. Seriously, if you know me and my son you know that you’ll quickly tell that there is no genetic resemblance. But just as quickly, you’ll observe many things that have been handed down from me to him.
A dear friend of mine, Lori Grass years ago would tell me how she loved seeing my facial expressions on a (at the time) eight year old African American boy. His laugh, his smile and his sense of humor are all items passed along through the years. Along with a long list of not as flattering traits too, but we’ll save that for another time.
I’d like to think that something else that I’ve passed along to my son is something that was passed to me from my father. This gift from my father was also given to my brothers and my sister, and now I get to see that gift passed along to the next generation as well.
Work ethic.
There have been very few instances in my professional life where I felt that I was the smartest guy in the room. In fact, it is usually quite the opposite. Now having said that, I also can reflect and say that there have been very few times where I felt like I was being out worked by those surrounding me. In a world where the buzz phrase is to “work smarter - not harder” I’ve found success going against that grain. My observation from years of experience is that the formula for success is a combination of the two, working smarter and harder.
I take great delight seeing employees - current and former, friends and family members progress in their careers. There are really only two things that come from your career work; an accumulation of wealth (hopefully) and an accumulation of friends. And the latter far out weighs the former, though I am hopeful that you (and I) have an abundance of both. I’m still working on the accumulation of wealth personally. But I have been fortunate over the years to create a large circle of friends and business colleagues, and continue to be astonished as I watch their careers progress.
Watching the progression of careers is fascinating. I’ve watched wickedly smart people both experience success and failure, as well as people that were not the most book smart individuals achieve similar ups and downs. But if I had to place my finger on the singular reason for success or failure within my subset of my friends and family, I would place work ethic as the most common trait.
Given the current state of jobs and employee shortage, in many cases today and for the foreseeable future work ethic will be an even bigger part of people’s success. As the saying goes, half of life is just showing up. And right now, getting people to show up is becoming a bigger and bigger problem. Even the McDonalds near my house, which is paying $15 an hour for workers is having to shut down their lobby and only operate as a drive thru because they cannot get enough people just to show up and operate their business at 100% capacity. So image the thrill of a manager if someone with a solid work ethic shows up everyday, on time and works hard for eight hours consistently. It won’t take long before that individual is a highly trusted and valuable part of the team.
A solid work ethic can make you a solid contributor to the team, and a valued employee. But to get to the next level, as a leadership and a high functioning critical thinker within an organization you’ll need that work ethic and probably a little more. Actually a lot more - a lot more determination and an acute eye for details.
Legendary college basketball coach Bob Knight might well be remembered for the negative things he did during his career. While I don’t believe you can overlook his shortcomings, I will focus on the 902 wins, three national championships, 11 Big Ten titles and coaching the USA basketball team to Olympic gold. He is also a wealth of knowledge and good advice, on how to play a tough man to man defense on the basketball court, and how to be successful in the office.
Knight’s preparation for a game and his game day strategy was unequaled. It came from an obsession to details, and a regiment of preparation that ensured that his team was ready for their opponent. Knight’s belief is that everyone wants to be successful, but that wasn’t enough. It wasn’t about talent, but rather getting the most out of the talent you have. "The key is not the 'will to win'...everybody has that. It is the will to prepare to win that is important."
I’ve seen the value of preparation play out countless times in my career. Heading into a job interview, running through the list of possible questions and rehearsing answers in advance, to anticipating potential objections and knowing how best to respond to a potential customer on that important sales call. Recently, I had a conversation with someone who was preparing for a high-level job interview and heard about the preparation they were doing in advance.
The interview process was several rounds, with only a handful of people advancing each time. For the first round, there would be a presentation from the candidate as well as a group interview via Zoom. Their presentation was prepared with painstaking precision, designed to show off their abilities, professionalism and experience. Those are all things you’d expect every candidate to do of course. Their attention to detail highlighted an over the top approach that set them apart from other candidates. Their research of the group that would conduct the interview meant an in-depth understanding of their background, passions and as much as you can determine business philosophy, creating a tapestry of information and data on topics that were likely to be discussed during the interview process. Even the items that would be appearing in the background of the video conference were well thought out and intentional. Needless to say, I think Bob Knight would have approved of their willingness to prepare.
Obsessing over details for a presentation and job interview is a good indicator of the type of employee an individual will be, and I’m sure that showed through during this process. Paying attention to those smallest of details may seem like overkill to the average person and maybe even a waste of time. But if you are interviewing for a high-performing executive position, chances are you’ll be interviewed by high-performing individuals. And rest assured, they got to where they were through expertise in their field, a strong work ethic and an obsession to details.
A drive to work hard and the commitment to prepare will make most who embrace those traits successful. Pursue goals with purpose and passion, try to leave the world a better place than it was when you came into it. I am blessed with several friends who strive to achieve this lofty goal. Purpose, passion and people are the driving force behind my friend Ty.
I don’t think it is possible for Ty and I to have come from more different backgrounds. Our meeting and subsequent friendship was not likely, but it thrives. His work ethic and drive are helping him accumulate a mountain of wealth, though not the financial kind, at least not yet. Sure, his goal is to make money but first he wants to make sure his neighbors have food and the youth in his community have mentors. With his charisma and lack of fear to meet people and network with them, I’m pretty sure that he could locate elsewhere and become a highly successful salesman. Instead, his purpose is focused on eliminating a “food desert” in the neighborhood he grew up in.
These two individuals highlighted are very different from one another, yet they are united. Work ethic, obsession to details, preparation, purpose and passion are all apart of their personal foundation. Each of those traits by themselves would set the individual apart from many in society, and certainly in the workplace. These building blocks that help make up a personality are all within reach of anyone that has the desire, and at least a little bit of determination. These traits are within reach for anyone, though most people won’t seek them out. The drive, the work ethic necessary to achieve is an obstacle too high to climb. And so dreams fall short due to a lack a willingness to prepare and work hard.
It is those traits that are among the traits that I admire most; work ethic, preparation, purpose and passion. Working hard doesn’t take talent, simply desire. My years of schooling never once included a class titled “Work Ethic 101.” Since it is a trait that is available for anyone to grab and take hold, you’d think that it would not differentiate you from other since all would possess, right?
The work ethic demonstrated by my father, and I’m sure by his before him is rare. Of all the gifts I’ve been given over the years, my father’s gift of work ethic, which he demonstrated everyday ranks up there as one of the most valuable.
Thanks, Dad.